White Gold Necklaces
White gold is thought by many to be the poor cousin of gold when it comes to jewelry design. This is an uneducated opinion, and one not shared by those who dress the stars for the Hollywood red carpet. White gold necklaces, for example, are in many cases, actually preferred over yellow gold necklaces.
Gold holds a special place in the collective psyche. This is reflected in phrases like ‘good as gold’ and ‘gold standard.’ The word ‘dollar’ was the name for a weight measurement for gold that was adopted as the word for the United States currency. The medal given to the first place finisher in competitions from the Olympics to the Cannes Film Festival is gold.
People who don’t understand metallurgy don’t understand the requirements of tensile strength and malleability versus hardness issues that come into play when designing metal objects, be they fine machinery parts or fine jewelry. Pure gold is soft – so soft that when you bite it hard you will leave tooth impressions in the metal. This is why you see characters in old movies biting down on a coin received from someone they don’t trust. Also of consideration in jewelry is the color of the metal in relationship to the color of the gemstones that will be set in it. Diamonds display less well in yellow gold; rubies and emeralds display better.
There are hundreds of possible alloy mixtures for gold, most often using a white metal (usually nickel, zinc or palladium), or silver (producing green gold) or copper (producing red gold). Pure, or 24k, gold is rarely used in jewelry for all practical intents and purposes due to its softness.
The value of a gold alloy is determined on the basis of the alloy used and the mix-ratio, and is refered to by the term “karat”. Twenty-four karats equals one hundred percent. A 12k white gold necklace of titanium alloy is a necklace made of a mixture that is 12 parts gold to 12 parts titanium.
The yellow gold color most often seen in gold jewelry is often too brassy looking and can frequently cheapen the look of fine jewelry. White gold creates a more appealing contrast when worn with most clothing. Think of how a yellow gold necklace would look on a wedding dress.
The relative malleability of white gold depends on the alloy used. A nickel alloy produces a white gold good for bracelets and rings. White gold settings for pendants, gem-rich necklaces and earrings require something softer and add palladium to the mixture. We increasingly see white gold used for necklaces and pendants because gold, whether pure, green or red, tends to blend against the skin.
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